CELEBRATING OUR
10TH ANNIVERARY!
FlexITechs is now in its 10th year of serving Sussex County residents and businesses!
After two years as the computer services arm of our sister company, Sussex County Online, FlexITechs was formed to better define the computer services offered by owner Eric Magill.
We thank all of our customers who have made it possible for us reach our 10th anniversary! |
|
|
|
|
REFER a Friend, Get 15% Off Next Call!
Dear (Contact First Name),
Thank you for your continued interest in FlexITechs. If you'd prefer not to receive our occasional email newsletters, use the "Unsubscribe" link above.
Also, be sure to:
Sincerely, Eric Magill, FlexITechs |
|
|
An Eventful Spring
To call this an eventful spring in the computing world would be an understatement.
Between upgrading numerous Windows XP and Office 2003 installations to Windows 7 and Office 2010 (avoid Windows 8 and Office 2013 if you can), the Heartbleed and Internet Explorer vulnerabilities, and my first real-life encounter with the Cryptolocker virus, this has been one busy Computer Guy.
Now, for some catching up:
- If you haven't upgraded your Windows XP computer or your Office 2003 software, don't hesitate. Word has it that hackers are busily studying the Server 2003 updates this month because the Server 2003 vulnerabilities would also be present in Windows XP. By looking at the vulnerabilities Microsoft patched in Server 2003, hackers now know which vulnerabilities have not been patched in Windows XP since patching for XP ended in April.
- XP is no longer being patched with one exception, I should add. When the zero-day vulnerability that caused a mini-panic among Internet Explorer users surfaced last month, Microsoft made an exception to its decision to no longer patch XP. So, it developed a patch for that vulnerability along with the patches it distributed for all versions of Windows and all versions of Internet Explorer. If you're not sure if your computer has received this critical patch, check your Windows Updates history and look for KB2964358. If it's in your update history, you are patched. If not, you need to get it or use another web browser such as Firefox, Chrome or Safari.
- The Heartbleed vulnerability also caused its share of heartburn last month. With approximately two-thirds of all web sites using the protocol that was affected, web site developers scrambled to plug the bug. By now, any secure web sites you use should have been patched (estimates earlier this month placed the number of remaining unpatched web sites at less than 1 percent). Nevertheless, if you haven't already, you should still change your passwords on all secure web sites you access, such as shopping sites and banking sites.
- If you have never dealt with Cryptolocker, consider yourself lucky. Fortunately we had good backups to recover from, but the process was long and costly. If you haven't done so, you need to check your backup program to ensure you have multiple versions of your backed up files in case the latest backups are corrupted, or in this case, encrypted.
|
Prepare for Summer Storms
Time for our annual Thunder & Lightning speech.
We do this every spring as summer approaches because of the amount of damage and heartache we see caused by thunder storms every summer.
In the heat of summer, we become far more prone to electrical storms and the damage caused to electronics by lightning strikes and/or power outages. To protect your computer equipment, we recommend purchasing a Universal Power Supply, also known as a battery backup. These devices provide much better protection than a standard surge protector. Besides providing surge protection, they switch your equipment to battery power when the power goes out to give you time to shut down the computer normally and avoid the motherboard, power supply and hard drive damage that a sudden, hard shutdown of your computer can cause. If you lose a motherboard or hard drive, you're likely looking at buying a new computer.
A UPS for most computers will run about $50-$75. The typical home computer or office workstation will require about 550VA. A UPS for servers will cost more as they consume much more power than a basic computer. Look for a UPS that offers a damage guarantee of at least the replacement cost of the equipment you are protecting.
One note on UPS's -- certain electronic devices, such as laser printers and air conditioners, can't be plugged into a UPS because they draw more power than the UPS can provide, so only plug your computer, monitor, modem and router into them.
A final note on UPS's and surge protectors -- UPS batteries and surge protectors go bad over time. Your UPS will start to beep when your battery needs to be replaced. Your surge protector should be replaced if you've had a direct lightning strike because a direct hit weakens it. In any event, plan on replacing your surge protector about every two years. As with a UPS, look for damage guarantees on surge protectors.
|
|
BizTech -- Raining on our Cloud
I haven't posted much about Cloud services in Sussex County because, frankly, it's a risky proposition for many businesses here.
I'm not referring to the security of your data in the Cloud, though that certainly should be a consideration in any Cloud discussion.
I'm referring more to the spotty and unreliable Internet service we're saddled with that could significantly disrupt your business during outages or periods of congestion.
You basically have two choices for the kind of business-class service needed to operate in the Cloud:
* Verizon DSL (FIOS is available only sparsely and not coming to a neighborhood near you any time soon);
* Cable from either Mediacom or Comcast
To make matters worse, many businesses are located in areas with only a choice of DSL or Cable, not both, and much of the Internet infrastructure has some age on it.
Verizon's top Internet speed on its DSL service is 3mbps. It simply doesn't suffice, in this age of video conferencing, VoIP phone services, webinars, video tutorials, and increasingly large file transfers, for most small businesses with more than a handful of employees.
Mediacom and Comcast can offer speeds of 10 to 150mbps, but they, like Verizon, suffer outages from time to time that could bring your business to a halt. Mediacom is particularly notorious for prolonged outages and we've seen Verizon service go down for days at multiple locations before technicians were able to diagnose the outages here as bad equipment in Philadelphia.
Please note that I am not suggesting that you discount the Cloud altogether. I use Verizon myself for my main PSA software but I only have three people on our Internet connection. Still, I experience annoying lag times on a daily basis.
If you have a LOB application you'd like to consider moving to the Cloud, I'd suggest first trying a less important application or a trial of your LOB application in the Cloud, if offered, to see if you have stability and performance issues. If a minor application or trial doesn't perform well online, neither will your main LOB application with all of its data.
For an analysis of the cloud-worthiness of your Internet infrastructure, give me a call at 302-537-4198 or email me at ericm@flexitechs.com.
|
|
|
We thank you for your past business the past 10 years and hope we can continue to fulfill your technology needs in the future. If you have any questions about current technology issues, feel free to contact us at 537-4198.
|
|
Sincerely,
Eric Magill
FlexITechs
Microsoft Small Business Specialist |
|
|
